PRINCETON, NJ -- Americans' self-reported daily spending averaged $95 in August, up from $89 in July. The latest spending estimate is the highest Gallup has measured in any month since a $99 reading in September 2008.

Gallup asks Americans on its Daily tracking survey to report how much they spent the prior day, excluding household bills and major purchases like a car or home. The data give an estimate of discretionary spending.

Gallup's spending measure has generally been trending upward since late 2012. From 2009 until November 2012, the monthly averages were consistently below $80. That "new normal" period in spending, tied to the sluggish economy and high unemployment rate, represented a dramatic change from 2008, the first year Gallup asked the question. In 2008, each monthly estimate exceeded $80, including four months with averages above $100.

I'm guessing the most important part of all this is that there may still be hope for PBO's agenda and the D's in 2016. That's quite a gap.

PRINCETON, NJ -- President Barack Obama's job approval rating thus far in 2013 has averaged 24 percentage points higher than Americans' satisfaction with the direction in which the country is going. This gap is typical for the Obama presidency, but represents a much greater presidential job approval premium than most other presidents since Ronald Reagan have enjoyed.

More specifically, so far this year, an average of 50% of Americans have approved of the job Obama is doing as president. At the same time, an average of 26% have been satisfied with the direction of the country. Similarly, since the start of his presidency in 2009, Obama's average job approval rating has been running 26 points higher than Americans' average level of satisfaction with the nation, and has ranged from 22 to 30 points higher each year.

By contrast, the average gap in approval vs. satisfaction for George W. Bush across the eight years of his presidency was 12 points. For Bill Clinton and for Ronald Reagan, it was 10 points. The only other president who consistently logged much higher job approval ratings than the prevailing level of U.S. satisfaction was George H.W. Bush during his one-term presidency from 1989-1993. However, even his average 21-point job approval premium falls short of Obama's.

Wow, I didn't think people were paying attention, but this makes it look like they are... alot.

Washington (CNN) - Americans' confidence in Congress as an institution has hit an all-time low, according to a new national poll.

Asked about a list of institutions in American society, only 10% of those questioned in a Gallup survey released Thursday say they have confidence in Congress. That's down three percentage points from last year, and according to their release, "this is the lowest level of confidence Gallup has found, not only for Congress, but for any institution on record."

Congress ranks last on a list of 16 institutions. At the top of the list: The U.S. military. Seventy-six percent say they have confidence in the armed forces. The presidency ranked fifth, at 36%.

Funny, I heard all sorts of blather about how PBO is sinking among independents today, but nada about this.

The Job Creation Index is now much improved from the all-time monthly low of -5 recorded in February and April 2009.

The net job creation score is based on 37% of workers telling Gallup that their employer is hiring new people and expanding the size of its workforce, and 15% saying their company is letting people go and reducing the size of its workforce. The percentage "hiring" is the highest since August 2008 and the percentage "letting people go" is the lowest since March 2008.

Workers across many regions and in various groups are giving Gallup some of the best job creation reports in five years:

Job creation in the East (20) and West (21) improved to the best levels seen since mid-2008.

Net job creation also improved in the South (21) in May, but is not quite as high as it was in April 2012 (23), although it is still among the highest levels for the region on record.

While job creation in the Midwest did not improve in May, it is the highest (22) for any region, as has been the case throughout this year and during much of 2012.

Nongovernment employees continue to report job creation at their workplaces that is among the highest since Gallup began tracking job creation daily in 2008.

Federal government workers' job creation reports continued to improve in May, following a collapse in March after the federal budget sequestration cuts went into effect. But, net job creation for this group remains in negative territory at -7 in May.